California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is on a publicity tour for his 2028 presidential hopes.

Over the weekend, he showed up in Munich, where European leaders are meeting, to declare that “Donald Trump is temporary.” He’s been touring South Carolina, an early primary battleground state. He’s been profiled in outlets like Vogue and The New Yorker that all but declare him the Democrats’ best hope. He’s even written an autobiography that tries to rough up the edges of his privileged upbringing and smooth out the edges of his past behavior.

Related

Gavin Newsom: I’m not transphobic, my godson is trans & I signed pro-trans bills

Ambition is hardly a deal-killer for a presidential wannabe. The real question is, what does Newsom have to offer that can change Democratic fortunes? The answer is much more of a mix than the current glowing coverage of Newsom would allow.

To give Newsom credit, he has willingly battled Trump much more aggressively than most other Democrats. While other Democrats provide mealy-mouthed responses to Trump‘s outrages, Newsom has been calling Trump out for being “weak,” “un-American,” and “a wholly-owned subsidiary of big oil, gas, and coal.”

Dive deeper every day

Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

And that was just this past weekend.

Newsom is especially good at trolling the president, besting Trump at his own game on social media. When the White House declared Trump to be in perfect health (with minimal details to back up the claim), Newsom mocked Trump by posting a fake letter from a “Dr. Dolittle” to declare that the governor is “the healthiest human currently alive or recorded in medical history.”

Such antics are welcomed by Democrats who want someone to stand up to Trump. He also has legitimate policy credentials, including steering a measure through that would allow Democrats to redraw congressional districts in their favor.

But as a presidential candidate, Newsom has a lot of baggage, both political and personal. Moreover, at a time when voters are longing for authenticity, Newsom looks an awful lot like the kind of politicians that look more at polls than at principles.

Newsom’s baggage isn’t so much about his resume. Republicans will describe any Democrat as a leftist, so being governor of California is neither here nor there. Being the former mayor of San Francisco is probably good for several million more attack ads against Newsom, but there will always be some issue that the GOP will use to attack the nominee.

The political baggage is about Newsom’s fetish for giving far-right voices credibility. On his podcast, Newsom has sat down with some of the most extreme figures on the right, including Steve Bannon. Many Democrats were enraged at the Bannon interview.

“I think that Governor Newsom bringing on different voices is great; we shouldn’t be afraid to talk and to debate just about anyone,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said. “But Steve Bannon espouses hatred and anger, and even at some points violence, and I don’t think we should give him oxygen on any platform, ever, anywhere.”

Most notoriously, Newsom sat down with Charlie Kirk, where he agreed with Kirk that the presence of trans athletes was “deeply unfair.” After Kirk’s murder, Newsom called on people to “continue his work,” which included trashing LGBTQ+ people and people of color.

Newsom may be trying to show that he’s open to debating the other side, but where are his principles? The other side is openly lusting for authoritarianism and an end to democracy as we’ve known it. Treating the far-right as just another political group is a fundamental misreading of the current political reality.

Newsom’s stand on trans athletes has all the hallmarks of the finger-in-the-wind approach to politics that makes voters distrust Democrats. Beshear offers a far better example of what voters respect. He vetoed a trans athlete ban in his state, saying trans youth “deserve public officials’ efforts to demonstrate that they are valued members of our communities through compassion, kindness and empathy, even if not understanding.” As a Democrat in a deep red state, Beshear still is incredibly popular.

Then there’s Newsom’s personal life. When he was elected mayor of San Francisco in 2003, he was married to Kimberly Guilfoyle. The pair filed for divorce in early 2005. (Guilfoyle has since gone on to become a MAGA darling, even being engaged to Donald Trump Jr. at one point.) After their separation, Newsom had an affair with Ruby Rippey-Tourk, a staff member who was married to his deputy chief of staff. Newsom subsequently lamented the affair, which ended the couple’s marriage, as “the worst betrayal of my life.”

Newsom also dated a 20-year-old college student during this period. He was 39 at the time. He says now that the relationship was just a handful of dates, but in the post-Epstein era, it’s not a good look, to say the least.

Virtually any Democrat is going to be better than Donald Trump. But the bigger question is, what candidate can help reshape the Democratic Party? The party is at record levels of unpopularity because voters think it’s out of touch with most ordinary people’s lives. It needs a break from its past. Newsom’s lineage, both familial and political, is chock-a-block with some of the biggest names in the party’s history, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

It also needs to connect with average voters, while Newsom is definitely a member of the elite from birth. According to The New York Times, one of his father’s close friends was the “oil magnate Gordon Getty, who took Mr. Newsom and his sister on a safari in Africa and on a visit to the king and queen of Spain.” By comparison, Trump has all the earmarks of an outer-borough bootstrap success story, complete with all the resentments that brings.

We are still a long way from 2028, and there are plenty of other candidates eyeing the race. But some skepticism is in order about anyone declaring Newsom the future of the Democratic Party. Like any candidate, he is flawed, but he may be a lot more flawed than his current coverage acknowledges.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.